Catching Up...

As with everything in my daily life these days, I have fallen behind the power curve with my blogging! But, I cannot blame my lagging entirely on my job as a mom to three small kids, or on the impending holiday season and all of the prep that is involved with that....no, no this time my distraction can be explained by (yet another) craft I have picked up....Quilting! I love sewing and making things with fabrics, but have always been intimidated by the process of quilting and have never been 'brave' enough to give it a go. Well, that all changed when I was trying to think of a fun new idea for a baby gift for a good friend of mine....I did my 'research' online and, much to my surprise, found that the actual quilting process is not as intimidating as I had thought! Needless to say, in the few moments of free time I do get at the end of each day I have been quilting, which has been so much fun for me and quite a mind-relaxer as well. I will post more later about my new endeavor and show some of the quilts I have made so far....but for now, on with the 'catch-up!'

October was a really fun month for us -- we spent a lot of quality family time together and enjoyed the things that come with the kids getting older and more excited about the holidays.

Joanna loves to draw -- here is a picture she drew one morning while I was busy with the boys. She brought it over to show me, and it nearly blew my socks off! When I asked her what it was a picture of (which I do with all of her drawings...I don't want to assume anything :)) she replied 'my family!' I loved that moment and I love this picture!

One cold and dreary day (those have been few and far between here) we decided to pile everyone in the car and take a road trip to Lake Berryessa...just to see what there was to see. The drive was a little daunting...nothing like miles and miles of tiny winding roads on the sides of shear cliffs...but, luckily I was driving (and able to stave off any motion sickness) -- the scenery was breathtaking and the misty weather made it seem that much more enchanting. Above is a picture of the boys at a look out point in on of Lake Berryessa's inlets.

Not sure why Joanna looks so puzzled....

I think she was freezing....I know I was!

Look at these cliffs!

This is the dam that holds back Lake Berryessa -- it's hard to tell the scale from this picture, but the thing was impressive!

Sean and Wyatt's personalities are really beginning to shine! Although they are identical twins their personalities are actually very different. Wyatt is the more dominant, active, outspoken one and Sean is the more easy-going, even-keeled, happy-go-lucky one. Sean is more than happy to play by himself, introverted and just over all very mellow.... while Wyatt does not like to be alone and relishes in his family's attention...however, when we go out in public their personalities amazingly switch! Wyatt is very timid around strangers and is not quick to give smiles or even humour strangers with a glance. Sean on the other hand loves people and is always the first to interact with anyone who approaches, hamming it up with coos and flirty smiles...they are so fascinating!

Randy and I have been fortunate enough to find a babysitter since getting here to CA. Here we are attempting to take a pre-date night photo before the babysitter arrived....it was Saturday and it was college football night...need I say more!? What a goofball! :)

So, during one of my Internet searches for a new pair of jeans, I came across the annual GapKids photo contest and decided to enter all three kids into the contest! Here are some pictures I took to post in the contest...the winners are announced Dec. 6th! :)

Sean....not so sure about the contest....hahaa!

Wyatt....loving the attention!!

You would never guess that he would be the shy one in public!

This brings us to Halloween!! Joanna was so much fun this year -- I loved watching her enjoy the holiday and tried my best to make the most of all that is Halloween! Here she is posing with her pumpkin and showing off the ghoulish drawings she made for our front door :)

Joanna was on a Tinker Bell kick just before Halloween and I couldn't resist snatching up this costume when I saw it! She absolutely loved her Rainbow Fairy outfit and literally wore it for 48 hours (bedtime included) straight! I think these pictures are so great at capturing her joy!

Randy stayed home to hand out candy to the little ones in our neighborhood (not to mention Sean and Wyatt were sawing logs by this point) while Joanna and I hit the neighborhood for a little trick or treating! She started with a bang and was eager to go door to door, but about 4 houses in, we came across a house that had turned its garage into a haunted house -- strobe lights, fog machine, black lights, skeletons, the whole nine yards...she wanted to go over to investigate and stood reluctant at the bottom of the drive way...at the same time, a group of older kids walked up to the garage to collect their candy (Joanna now putting on a brave face, followed behind the big kids) and our from behind a black sheet popped a giant scary man dressed as some gruesome wizard on roller blades...and well, you can imagine what happened after that...she jumped about 10 feet in the air....didn't cry, but instead walked back to me, bucket dragging, head hanging in defeat and quietly said 'I'm all done, let's go home now mommy.' I wasn't going to let the night end on a down note, so we managed to treat (yes, I intentionally left out the 'trick') at a few more houses before turning back for home. Once we got home Joanna had a blast handing out candy to the rest of the kids and slept harder than she ever has before :)